Alkaline earth metals include beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), and radium (Ra). All alkaline earth oxides and peroxides will clot blood to some degree. The clot, however, is of generally poor quality. Beryllium and barium exhibit some toxicity to living systems, and therefore should be used on humans and other mammals with caution. Barium could be considered for life saving hemostasis where it is only used once, as it is not as toxic as beryllium. The alkaline earth oxides and peroxides of choice would be magnesium, calcium and strontium. However, the oxides of these three metals show relatively poor hemostasis as they tend to float on blood, forming a thin clot between the interface of the blood and oxide powder. This inhibits further absorbance of blood into the oxide powder and the clot is very weak, causing it to be ruptured by blood pressure. They also generate heat when put in contact with water. Strontium oxide tends to combine with blood better than MgO or CaO, producing some hemostasis.
The peroxides of Mg, Ca and Sr are candidates for use in hemostasis. Zinc peroxide (ZnO2), although not an alkaline earth oxide, has some hemostatic activity. All four of these peroxides (as dry powders) tend to be absorbed and interact with mammalian blood producing a clot suitable for hemostasis in humans.
Classically, barium ferrate (BaFeO4) and strontium ferrate (SrFeO4) are produced in aqueous solution by precipitation of a mixture of an alkali metal ferrate (Na2FeO4 or K2FeO4) and a soluble salt of barium (Ba) or strontium (Sr), e.g. BaCl2, SrCl2. These alkaline earth ferrates are practically insoluble in water, and may be removed by filtration or centrifugation. The product is then washed repeatedly with water in order to remove the unwanted cations (e.g. Na+, K+), and the carrier anions of the Ba or Sr (e.g. Cl−). These alkaline earth ferrates, with Fe in the +4 and/or +6 oxidation state, have value as hemostatic agents, as catalysts, and as electron acceptors in dry cell primary and secondary batteries, and any reaction where a strong oxidant is utilized.